


Bite the Bullet

by puppyfacedbrokenboys



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Aiden, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluffy, M/M, jackson and aiden like to call each other names, nervous aiden is adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1781311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyfacedbrokenboys/pseuds/puppyfacedbrokenboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nervous, Aiden calls Danny and asks him an important question involving his best friend. And then he does it, something he'd never even imagined doing - especially not with Jackson Whittemore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bite the Bullet

He was going to do it. He actually was going to grow some fucking balls and do it. But there was only one thing standing in his way: talking to Danny.

Talking to Danny terrified him. He was sure the Hawaiian boy would laugh in his face once he heard. Or punch him in the face. Better still, laugh while punching him in the face.

He played with the ring in his pocket as he sighed heavily, waiting for Danny to meet him at the diner on the edge of town. It was a public place; maybe then no punching would occur.

Fifteen minutes and two and a half black coffees later, the bell rang to signal an arrival. And three seconds later he could smell the cloud of Armani that emitted off the male and another fifteen seconds for him to slide in the booth across from him. Not that he counted or anything.

"Aiden," Danny greeted with a smile, but the edges were tight. "What’s up? Not that I don’t appreciate you calling me up randomly asking to have lunch—but you sounded weird," Danny joked, but Aiden could smell the concern that his body produced.

Aiden gave a huge sigh. Was he really that anxious that Danny had noticed? But he was very perceptive… for a human. Aiden dodged the question and instead motioned for the waitress to return to take their orders. Aiden noted that Danny ordered the same thing his brother always did and wondered if Danny had always liked it or if being married to Ethan had rubbed off on him.

Was that going to happen to him? He hoped with every fiber of his being that it wouldn’t. He stuffed his mouth with a French fry and ground his teeth, halting himself from continuing down that road lest he chicken out after doing all of this.

The two ate in silence for a full five minutes (Aiden was not keeping track, of course) until Danny cleared his throat. “Okay, dude, that burger is already dead, no need to be so rough.”

Aiden froze as Danny chuckled. Aiden hadn’t even realized he was taking his frustration and anxiety out on his burger. But Danny wasn’t fazed, well versed in the ways of werewolves. And for that, Aiden was thankful.

"Okay, c’mon. Don’t think I didn't notice your evasive maneuver earlier," Danny cut in, setting down his chicken sandwich to wipe his fingers with a napkin. "You asked me here for something and I want to know what - because from where I’m sitting, you are not fine."

How the hell did he do that? How did he make Aiden want to hunker down in his booth seat and spill his guts? But he wouldn't. That would be an Ethan thing to do, and Aiden was not Ethan. So instead Aiden growled low in his throat just low enough for Danny to hear the warning and Danny only raised his eyebrow. Aiden fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Okay fine, here," Aiden said gruffly, digging into his pocket and pulling something out and tossing it to Danny. Thanks to Danny’s Lacrosse reflexes he caught the little circle of dark metal.

"Aid… need I remind you that I’m already married." He held up his left hand without taking his eyes off the ring in his right palm. "To your brother."

"I know, idiot. It’s not for you," Aiden snapped, reached for his Coke and took a long sip.

"Then why…" Danny’s eyes snapped up and he smirked. And yep, he was doing his best to politely hold back a laugh, just as Aiden had predicted. "Jackson."

"Yep." Aiden nodded, leaning back in his booth and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And you’re telling me first, why?" Danny questioned, holding the ring up between his thumb and index finger. "Does Ethan know?" he asked hopefully, his dimples coming out.

"Yes," Aiden grunted to the first question, then he rolled his eyes. “No, and that matters why?”

"Nothing," Danny chirped, and then shook his head. "So… that’s why you were acting so… nervous?"

"I’m not nervous."

"You so are. More violently so, but I live with your brother, remember? I know the signs." Danny paused to pop a fry in his mouth. "So… why tell me?"

Aiden glowered at him. “What do you think, dumbass?” Like he was going to admit what he was doing.

Danny’s smile turned into something that Aiden didn’t like. He’d seen that shit eating grin on Stiles’ face way too often when he knew he had gained the upper hand when it came to talking to someone. “Oh I get it. Jackson doesn’t talk to his parents and has no siblings, so next in line is the best friend. So… ask.” At Aiden’s huff, Danny chuckled. “C’mon. I asked you for Ethan. You can do it. It won’t hurt your pride, promise.”

Aiden sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He slowly uncrossed his arms and then looked Danny straight in the eye and the shift of naked emotions in his eyes made Danny speechless. “Okay, Danny, do I have your blessing to marry your best friend?”

But just because the appearance of Aiden’s obvious feelings swimming to the surface made Danny's certain of his decision, that did not mean he couldn't have fun with him. This was payback, after all. He wanted to see him squirm. “And why should I?” he challenged, letting the ring slip down his finger as he twirled it.

Aiden clenched his fists under the table. He knew this was coming. But no punches or laughter yet, so that was all he could hope for. He opened his mouth and outpoured, honest and raw, the words that he had tried to suppress for a long time now. “Because I… because I love him. The only person I’ve ever met, besides Ethan, who I’d jump in front of a wolfsbane bullet for, no hesitation; who I’d run day and night to try to find; who I’d rip out the throat of anyone who hurt him for. And he’s the only person that can make me so fucking angry and happy at the same time; the only person that takes me for  _who I am_ and never expected me to change shit for. Jackson is an asshole, but… he’s the asshole I want next to me for the rest of my life.” 

Danny was amazed at the amount of sincerity that dripped from Aiden’s words. The rawness of it all; so unlike the Aiden he knew. And he knew that every word that he said was true. But he still had one question, and the intensity of his expression made Aiden swallow, hard. “Answer just one thing, no hesitation, okay?” At Aiden’s nod, Danny asked, “Is he your mate?”

"Yes," Aiden said, voice rough with absolution. He hadn’t even thought about it until now.

Danny laughed, but it wasn’t the condescending sound Aiden had predicted. “Well then, Aiden Price, I give my blessing for you to marry my best friend. But if you hurt him—”

Aiden scoffed. “I’d be dead before my body even hit the ground.”

Danny nodded with another laugh. “Yeah, you’re right. So don’t fuck this up.” He tossed the ring back at Aiden and then smiled his soft smile. “All bullshit aside, I’m really happy for you and so will Ethan. And it’s about damn time, dude. It’s been five fucking years.”

"Shut up."

* * *

After saying goodbye to Danny and a phone call to his brother (“Dammit, Aiden, I’m really happy for you but could you have waited a month? I just lost fifty bucks.” - Ethan), Aiden made his way home to get ready for tonight.

He was nervous as hell as he ordered Jackson’s favorite from the Chinese restaurant (one of everything) and then paced the living room. Should he light candles? Fuck no. Rose petals? Jackson would just laugh in his face. So he settled for changing his clothes three times (too dressy, too casual, too constricting). Then he wandered down to the living room and brought out the bottle of wolfsbane laced wine he’d been saving for a special occasion.

"Like a fucking proposal," Aiden muttered to himself as he grabbed two glasses from the cabinet and set them on the coffee table with all the Chinese food. Beside the table he ended up making a comfy nest and managed to remember the string of fairy lights in their closet that he strung over the table for ambiance or some shit.

Then he waited. Foot tapping, finger tapping until his claws came out and he had to refrain from clenching his fists and bleeding all over his pants. He turned on the TV to a music channel that played soft rock and told himself not to wolf out.

Why was he so nervous?

Maybe because he never expected to feel this way. Ever. He had always thought that the legend of mates were just a story — like fairytales for humans — to make little kids yearn for something they’d never find. And with the shitty deck Aiden was dealt, there was no way in hell he had though it possible. But he’d got lucky with Jackson.

Jackson: the asshole with the hidden heart; just as jaded as Aiden was, and tried so desperately to hide it. They had hated each other when they had met at Danny and Ethan’s wedding as their best men. They just butted heads and got under each other’s skin like it was a natural thing to do. As the night progressed, the annoyance continued until something was said and Aiden snapped and pressed him up against the way, telling him to just shut the fuck up for once, and Jackson had curled his lips back in a challenge before saying “Make me,” and Aiden did in the only way he could. By kissing him hard and fucking him into the wall of the coat closest. Then again at Jackson’s apartment, and two times more after that. In the same apartment Aiden was sitting in now. And the rest was a rush of secret hookups until Ethan found out and rushed back to tell Danny and soon the rest of the pack found out and here he was… five years later and feeling like…  _this_.

He was nervous because he was terrified. Petrified that he would ask Jackson to become his forever, to admit to him that they were mates, and Jackson wouldn’t agree. That he’d laugh in his face and tell him to get out. That Aiden’s whole world would come crashing down again.

He couldn’t deal with that. Not again. He wouldn’t be able to pick up the pieces again.

Because Jackson had somehow managed to sink his claws into Aiden’s heart like no one had ever had before. What he told Danny was all true, and even he hadn’t realized just how deep in love with Jackson he was until now. And how much a part of him he was, and how dangerous that was if it was all taken away from him.

Luckily, the sound of Jackson slamming the door shut behind him broke Aiden from his thoughts. He quickly jumped up from the couch to meet him at the entrance to the hall. “Hey, Jacks, how was work?” he asked casually (he hoped), trying to calm his body down as not to give anything away.

"Sucked, as usual," Jackson grumbled and brushed a kiss on Aiden’s lips and moved to pull away, but Aiden grabbed his bicep and pulled him closer, pressing forward to deepen the kiss.

Jackson responded eagerly, licking into Aiden’s mouth and moaning when Aiden bite him softly on the lip. They broke for air, Jackson dropping back on the heels to look at him. “If we’re gonna keep doing that, then I need food.”

"Use your nose, dumbass," Aiden snapped lightly, smirking. "Dinner just got here."

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around," Jackson teased and followed Aiden into the living room. "I’m so exhausted. Those fuckheads need to learn their jobs or I’m—" Jackson stopped mid-sentence and Aiden was so glad he looked back at him to gauge his reaction or he’d have missed Jackson frozen with his hands in mid air as he wrestled with his tie. In any other circumstance, Aiden would reach over and grab it from him, and spin him around to tie his hands… but that could wait.

"What’s all this?" Jackson asked suspiciously as he became alive again. "Oh fuck, is it your birthday? Is it my birthday? Did I forget something else?" He rambled, finally free from the tie as he flung it onto the chair and toed off his shoes. "Wait… we don’t even—" 

Aiden tried very hard not to laugh, but his shoulders shook with silent laughter. Flustered Jackson was one of Aiden’s favorite Jacksons (after fucked-into-oblivion Jackson and I-will-strangle-you-and-they-will-never-find-your-body Jackson (when it was not directed at him, of course)). “No, I just wanted to do this.”

"Did you now?" Jackson questioned with a cocked eyebrow and rounded the couch after Aiden and dropped down on his knees on the pillow nest Aiden had provided.

"Yes. Am I supposed to get your permission?" Aiden deadpanned and Jackson chuckled.

"No," Jackson snorted and accepted the glass of wine Aiden offered him with a small incline of the head in thanks. "It’s just you don’t. Am I missing something?"

"No, just shut up and eat, fuckface."

* * *

By the time the cartons of Chinese food were all scraped clean and both males were laying back on the nest of pillows, the sounds of Rob Thomas drifting over them. They were silent, and that had to be the weirdest thing to this whole relationship. That they could just co-exist at times in silence, each lost in their own thoughts just as much as they needed to jab each other’s egos. He couldn’t understand it, but they could.

"So," Jackson broke the silence then, of course, and caused Aiden’s gaze to flicker over to him out of the corner of his eye. "Are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

"What, no thank you?" Aiden snarked back and Jackson snorted, turning his body slightly towards Aiden as he said, "Thanks, asswipe, happy now? Answer the question."

"Nothing, I told you," Aiden grumbled and slowly sat up and rearranged the pillows to lean back against them. "Or, maybe I wanted to butter you up and fuck you into the floor all night long, and in order to do that I had to feed you."

"Not that that doesn’t sound completely appealing and logical, but you’re lying," Jackson pointed out, and sat up and turned so he could look at Aiden, long arms wrapping around his legs. "And I don’t need a fucking werewolf lie detector to tell me either. C’mon, Aid, you’re acting fucking weird. And though I’m flattered you felt the need to dress up for me — seriously, I haven’t seen that shirt since Scott and Kira’s wedding anniversary party — I don’t get why."

"Can I just do it because I wanted to?"

" _You_? No. You’re impulsive, but not like— _this._ " Jackson motioned around the room. "So, I’ll ask you one more time. What’s got you so… unlike you?"

Aiden’s mind shifted to the ring in his pocket and he felt his pulse jump and knew Jackson heard it from the way his eyes narrowed the tiniest bit in confusion. So Aiden took the plunge. He stretched out his legs in front of him and crossed his arms in a way to shield himself in case this didn’t go well. “What do you know about mates?”

"Mates? As in werewolf soulmates that says everyone has one and you’re lucky as fuck to find yours? Well, I know that they… make your life complete in ways you didn’t know you weren’t. That they just… click with you," Jackson admitted with a shrug, leaning forward on his legs slightly.

"And do you believe in them?" Aiden asked in a soft voice. When had that happened?

"I used to think it was bullshit but then… Danny and Ethan. Stiles and Derek. And y—" Jackson cut himself off with a poorly disguised cough, though Aiden was so focused on worrying about what he was about to did, he was didn’t catch it. "But, now, I don’t know. Maybe it’s not as much anymore… Why? What do you think?" His voice had lowered to match Aiden’s.

"I think… that it’s true," Aiden admitted, and Jackson’s small catch of breath wasn’t subtle enough to ignore this time. Aiden’s pulse jumped and he tried to stop the hope that was blooming in his chest. They both looked up at each other then, locking eyes, and Aiden gulped. "Because I-I… thinkyou’remine."

Jackson’s mouth dropped (comically if Aiden wasn’t so fucking worried he was about to be rejected) and he cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice cracked on the first word and he winced slightly. “H-how do you know?”

"Because I-I. Dammit, Jackson, I can pick out your scent in a room of a hundred people. I can hear your heartbeat so distinctly that times I’ve wanted to lose control, I drove to your work and just…  _sat there_  and  _listened_  to your heartbeat to calm me down.

"You can bring me back from a nightmare by just a touch. You’re… so fucking irritating sometimes, but I fucking _love it_  at the same time because I’m happy when we argue and when we don’t. You’re a fucking asshole, but you’re  _my_  asshole and no one else gets me and expects nothing from me other than me than you. And I want to  _marry you_. And it fucking terrifies me, but I’m also in this sense of calm… because you’re my mate and I know that we are meant to be. I don’t want anyone else beside me but  _you_.”

Jackson was silent for way too long for Aiden and his breathing became fast and uneven and he had to stand up. He jumped to his feet and began to walk away when Jackson grabbed his hand to stop him. “Hey, hey, wait—where you going, fuckhead? You just… well, you just unloaded a lot of shit on me and I think you just proposed and I don’t get time to process it? Thanks a fucking lot.”

At Jackson’s touch, the oddest thing happened. Aiden deflated and sunk down to the floor as the panic washed away from him. He focused on that heartbeat he knew so fucking well and took a breath. “What? You’re not gonna kick me out?”

Jackson laughed and Aiden winced. “Shit, no. Look, pea-brain, relax. I’m not gonna kick you out because you bared your soul to me. I promise. Then I’d be a bigger asshole douche-nozzle than I already am. No, just shut up and let me talk, okay.” Aiden nodded. “Okay, now listen to me. All those… mushy as fuck words you said, they are reciprocated, all right. I don’t know how or why, but I love you and I feel it too… the mate thing. And if we’re really going to do this, I demand to be asked properly with a ring. You did get a ring, right?”

Aiden cracked then, laughing hard as he shook his head. “Of fucking course, all you care about would be the ring.”

"Hey, I just want to make sure it’s worthy enough if I’m gonna be wearing it for the rest of my fucking life." But his eyes were soft when he looked up at Aiden and Aiden couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward and kissing him tenderly. Jackson melted into the kiss, but Aiden pulled back quickly and delighted in the small whine that came from his mate.

His mate. He liked the sound of that.

"Not so fast. I have to do this properly, remember?" he teased, and fished the ring from his pocket and tossed it at Jackson, who caught it effortlessly. "Will you, Jackson Whittemore, do me the incredible honor of officially becoming my mate? There, how was that?"

"Fucker," Jackson grumbled as he looked at the ring with a small grin curling at the corners of his lips. "Okay, the ring is approved." He tossed the ring back to Aiden and held out his hand. "And yes, I would absolutely love to do you the honor of becoming your mate," Jackson said cheekily as Aiden slipped the ring onto his finger and before Aiden could protest, Jackson tackled him to the floor, straddling his waist, and kissed him deeply, grinding his hips down as Aiden instinctively thrust up.

"For the record," Jackson begun after he pulled away from Aiden’s lips to suck at his neck, "I’m… not to be mushy or anything, happy that you’re my mate," he whispered into Aiden’s ear and relished the shudder it enticed.

Aiden growled deep in his throat and flipped from quickly so that Aiden was on top. “How about we stop talking and you let me make good on my idea from earlier? Yeah?”

"Oh and what was—?" Jackson let out a low groan as Aiden thrust harder against him, biting into his shoulder. "Oh,  _that_. Fuck yes.”


End file.
